As the civil war in Syria rages on and refugees continue to amass at European borders in great numbers, it would appear that more and more fences – both physical and symbolic – are going to go up on the continent.
European Union (EU) member states such as Greece and Bulgaria[1] have already started building fences on their borders with Turkey to keep out refugees in the last few years, and other countries are now following suit. Hungary’s decision to erect a razor-wire fence on its borders with Serbia and Croatia has caused chaos in the region as refugee flows are diverted into neighbouring countries, with reports of Slovenian police pepper-spraying refugees[2]. attempting to enter the country. A more symbolic fence comes in the form of the temporary re-introduction of border controls[3] between Austria and Germany, following reports that they have been overwhelmed by the arrival of tens of thousands of asylum-seekers within a few days. The significance of this development lies in the fact that Germany and Austria are both members of the Schengen Area, where internal border controls were abolished in 1995. While the move is not unprecedented – Schengen members such as Denmark[4] have imposed internal border controls in the past – and temporary controls are permitted under the Schengen Agreement[5], Germany’s decision carries great symbolic importance and has led observers to question the continued viability of the principle of open borders within Schengen.
The unprecedented nature of such an influx in post-World War II Europe has meant that media attention has been mostly focused on the European side of the story. However, there are parallels to the situation in West Asia, where countries that have up until now allowed Syrian refugees to enter are increasingly closing their borders on them. Significantly, Lebanon, after taking in over a million Syrian refugees, ended its traditional policy of visa-free travel across the Syrian border earlier this year[6]. Turkey and Jordan have also increasingly moved[7] to restrict entry to those fleeing the conflict in the past few years after their infrastructure started to creak under the weight of the refugees.
Some may be tempted[8] to see these developments as a decisive refutation of the notion that borders are increasingly disappearing or becoming irrelevant in an ever-globalizing world, as border controls and fences gain new prominence as a means of maintaining states’ control over people flows. Indeed, the reactions from several governments of EU member states appear to be jeopardizing[9] the European dream of open borders.
The refugee crisis has demonstrated the abject inadequacy of national borders to solve transnational problems. As researchers focusing on illegal immigration to the US have found[10], stronger borders do not result in lower numbers of migrants. Indeed, refugees are already finding ways to breach[11] Hungary’s new razor-wire fences, demonstrating that shoring up national borders is an inappropriate response to a situation that necessarily involves crossing them. As Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic recently put it[12], borders can only be completely sealed if authorities are willing to indiscriminately kill those seeking to cross them, a position that is untenable in most modern societies. The resurrection of national borders is doomed to fail in the face of overwhelming numbers of migrants that physically cannot be kept out; and EU leaders have no choice but to urgently develop a pan-European, cross-border solution to the problem. This will involve reforming the current EU asylum system to allow refugees to apply for asylum in EU member states extraterritorially[13], before they reach Europe, and abolishing the so-called Dublin system under which refugees are required to claim asylum in the member state in which they first arrive. Additionally, much greater EU assistance to local authorities attempting to process asylum applications is needed. Recent decisions by EU leaders to relocate 120,000 refugees[14] recently registered in Italy and Greece to other EU member states, and to send support teams[15] to assist with processing applications to areas with particularly high numbers of refugee arrivals are first steps in this direction.
But what do these developments mean for countries outside of Europe? Future mass displacements of people will only become more frequent as climate change increases the likelihood of extreme weather[16] that may force people to leave their homes. India has had its own influx of refugees[17] in the last few years, in the form of Rohingya refugees fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar. No country can count on being spared a refugee crisis in the future. Governments across the world need to re-think the role of borders and their historical significance as symbols of national sovereignty in the face of a potentially messy reality in which maintaining them may no longer be possible.
Katharina Obermeier is a Research Officer at the Global Economic Governance Programme in Oxford.
This article was exclusively written for Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations. You can read more exclusive content here.
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References:
[1] – Popp, Maxmilian, ‘Europe’s Deadly Borders: An Inside Look at EU’s Shameful Immigration Policy’, Spiegel Online, <http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/europe-tightens-borders-and-fails-to-protect-people-a-989502-3.html>
[2] – Kingsley, Patrick, and Emma Graham-Harrison, ‘UN warns European unity at risk as borders close to refugees’, The Guardian, 19 September 2015, <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/19/refugees-croatia-hungary-borders-europe>
[3] – ‘Migrant crisis: Germany starts temporary border controls’, BBC News, 14 September 2015, < http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34239674>
[4] – ‘Denmark announces decision to reintroduce border controls ahead of Schengen meeting’, The Telegraph, 11 May 2011, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/8507772/Denmark-announces-decision-to-reintroduce-border-controls-ahead-of-Schengen-meeting.html>
[5] – France 24, ‘EU agrees short-term border closures to block migrants’, 8 June 2012, < http://www.france24.com/en/20120608-european-union-schengen-border-control-migrants-refugees>
[6] – Hornak, Leo, ‘Sorry, we’re full — Lebanon ends its open border policy for Syrian refugees’, PRI, 6 January 2015, <http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-06/sorry-were-full-lebanon-ends-its-open-border-policy-syrian-refugees>
[7] – Loveluck, Louisa, ‘Turkey closes two border crossings with Syria amid fears of ‘terrorist attack”’, The Telegraph, 30 March 2015, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11503524/Turkey-closes-two-border-crossings-with-Syria-amid-fears-of-terrorist-attack.html>
[8] – Daley, Janet, ‘Without borders in Europe, there is no hope of ending this migrant crisis’, The Telegraph, 5 September 2015, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/11846760/Without-borders-in-Europe-there-is-no-hope-of-ending-this-migrant-crisis.html>
[9] – Dawar, Anil, John Ingham, and Rob Virtue, ‘Euro dream over as border controls return in face of tidal wave of EU migrants’, Daily Express, 3 September 2015, <http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/602604/Migrant-EU-border-crisis>
[10] – Fox, Lauren, ‘More Fencing and More Patrols Won’t Stop Immigration’, US News, 6 August 2013, <http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/08/06/more-fencing-and-more-patrols-wont-stop-immigration>
[11] – Corder, Mike, and Dusan Stojanovic, ‘Migrants keep sneaking through Hungary’s razor-wire fence’, Global News, 16 September 2015, <http://globalnews.ca/news/2223235/migrants-continue-to-breach-hungarys-razor-wire-fence-along-serbian-border/>
[12] – Government of the Republic of Croatia, ‘PM Milanovic says refugee problem must be solved at its source’, 19 September 2015, <https://vlada.gov.hr/news/pm-milanovic-says-refugee-problem-must-be-solved-at-its-source/17741>
[13] – Garlick, Madeline, ‘The Potential and Pitfalls of Extraterritorial Processing of Asylum Claims’, March 2015, <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/potential-and-pitfalls-extraterritorial-processing-asylum-claims>
[14] – European Commission, ‘Refugee Crisis – Q&A on Emergency Relocation’, 22 September 2015, < http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-5698_en.htm>
[15] – European Commission, ‘Annex To The Communication From The Commission To The European Parliament, The European Council And The Council’, 23 September 2015, <http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/proposal-implementation-package/docs/communication_on_managing_the_refugee_crisis_annex_2_en.pdf>
[16] – Mathiesen, Karl, ‘Extreme weather already on increase due to climate change, study finds’, The Guardian, 27 April 2015, <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/27/extreme-weather-already-on-increase-due-to-climate-change-study-finds>
[17] – Ghosh, Palash, ‘Rohingya Muslim Migrants Caught In Limbo Between India And Bangladesh’, International Business Times, 6 September 2015, <http://www.ibtimes.com/rohingya-muslim-migrants-caught-limbo-between-india-bangladesh-1403237>